Upon his return in the Dutch Republic the Admiral made a positive rapport about the successful resupplying effort at the newly founded colony. Agricultural activities were expanded by the colonists but a shortage of labor still remained an obstacle to make the colony thrive more.
To combat this the Dutch East India Company brought in slave labor from the Dutch colonies in Madagascar and the Dutch East Indies, and the first arrived in the year of 1658 almost doubling the current population at that time.
In 1659 the Dutch East India Company decided to grant colonists the title of free citizen and to promote independent farming. This was also the year that the first grapes were harvested.
Over the years there was an influx of Dutch, German colonists together with French Hugenots who had fled to the Dutch Republic to escape religious prosecution in France. Agricultural production increased, and by 1679 the “Castle of Good Hope” in an altered shape from the square “Fort of Good Hope” to a pentagonal structure was finished.
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